route666rp | APRIL EVENT LOG

APRIL EVENT LOG

The grassland gives way to rougher terrain, green fading to cracked red earth with scraggly sharp-edged plants dotting the landscape. With no trees, the sky overhead feels massive, and almost oppressive with how the sun and moon shine down. It’s entirely at odds with the biting wind that often whips across the flatlands. The ground occasionally breaks open into crevasses or rolls along in arid hills, but it remains stark thorn brush for as far as the eye can see… Save for one strange, ominous tower on the horizon.

01:TOWER OF TRANSFORMATION

The tower looks like a giant fang, trying to bite the sky. A strange pressure emits from it and rests on the skin. Drifters can get closer to the tower, but the terrain is covered with puncturing spikes and sharp thorn brush. It will take a TOUGH vehicle to get close without getting cut. Anyone who bleeds within sight of the tower discovers their cuts are transformed; a monster’s form waits under their skin, and transforms them one injury at a time.

It takes several days to get close to the tower via Convoy, with how the road snakes and winds towards it. Drifters won’t be able to reach it without offroad vehicles until April 15th. Getting close to the tower reveals that it is formed out of a strange metal much like the Husks… And that numerous creatures have been melded into the tower’s surface. A strange red ichor seeps out from these forms. Coming into contact with it heals wounds and can revert one transformation.

Drifters can take some of the fluid with them, if they have means to carry it… But only one extra dose; any more makes the fluid unstable and neutralizes the effect entirely.

01-A: TWISTED MONSTERS

The land here is still littered with Husks, ready to break open to fight… But these monsters are more twisted than usual, and seem to be composed of multiple organisms. Prowling cat-centaur esque brutes called panthera protectors, ungainly catoblepas, reptile energy draining bloodhound dogs, and flying lion-bird anzu are all ready to attack with tooth and claw, to make Drifters all the more like them.

Given the influence of the tower, Drifters can feel their forms twisting, the more wounds they take, and the more the moon begins to form into something almost whole. By April 15th the wounds and moon are almost impossible to resist without either vials or message mementos. And those wounds are determined to drag a change out of Drifters. (Of note, Drifters who took on Harpy or Naga traits last month will find those changes can come back to them unnervingly easily, and blend with other creature changes to become a true chimera.)

These changes grow worse until the moon glow and shards reach their absolute peak on April 20th. At this point Twisted Land occurs.

02: ROAD ATTACK 

A week into the thorn brush, chaos starts at sunset. The first warning is a metallic howl echoing down from the hills, followed by a rumble that could almost be thunder… If not for the fact that the sunset stained sky is completely clear. A swarm of metal sweeps over the hills, heading straight at the Convoy.

Running at the lead are more of those canine robots. The Convoy database again identifies them as ‘chromehounds’ and these are clearly in better repair; their fangs and claws are all razor sharp, and they are swiftly closing the distance. Close behind the hounds is a scattered assortment of scrap metal vehicles. The creatures driving aren’t quite human but also aren’t quite monsters; instead they are mechanical forms with just a few remnants of flesh on them. Robot riders and raiders, determined to harry the Convoy.

The goal of the raiders is to crash their vehicles into the Convoy, to slow or halt them. Drifters will need to either fight at a distance… Or hope that their monster side is tough enough for close and bloody combat!

02-A: ATTACK AND AFTERMATH

The attack patterns of the raiders depends on who they are targeting and how transformed the Drifters are. More monstrous Drifters earn full fury, and the vehicles blare with static and a patchy message: “…Purge… Corruption… By steel.” The raiders are determined to kill monsters, even at the cost of their own lives.

By contrast, less transformed Drifters may be overlooked, or only looked at suspicion. But if examined long enough, the raiders will eventually conclude less changed Drifters as still corrupt and attack them, especially if they are associated with the more monstrous!

Afterwards, mechanical salvage can be found to bolster the Convoy vehicles. The machines display a moon stabbed by a sword. It is the same as the symbols on the trap cars from February. Several raiders also carry odd talismans that resemble a rosary formed of tiny computer screens. Many of the screens are broken, but a few carry flickering text: “Your charge: To hunt the Warped. To purify the broken land, purge all sickness that twists us. Only then can Nirvana be opened, and the world reborn without corruption.”

03: OASIS

Just off the road are scattered oases, shining like blue gems in a red wasteland. The waters run surprisingly deep, with monstrous statues submerged in the depths. These statues resemble all 13 types of monsters, some of them even coloring the water depths into shades of green, purple, and red.

The oasis waters can’t fix or restore physical transformations. But it can cure any heat exhaustion with just a few sips, and restore lost strength. Red water can heal wounds, green restores magic fatigue, and purple can stabilize mental exhaustion and strain.

The statues also create a strange resonance on Drifters’ Sigil marks, particularly when Drifters submerge in the water. The statue resonance can’t completely revert transformations but they CAN spread out the transformation between two Drifters and lessen the potency.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, CHIMERA

Peculiar flowers bloom along some of the thorn brush. Drifters who bleed from the thorns will find that their cuts turn into Traits belonging to either Chimera or Unicorns. Chimeras typically appear from red flowered plants, and become increasingly tougher as they gain more traits. The following is also available:
+Tower focus: if growing extra eyes or heads, vision becomes disorienting. Focusing on the tower will help sharpen vision and provide clarity.
+Thermal flight on new wings, as the hot air coming off the ground helps them soar.
+Territorial hunter vs other fully shifted monsters/enemies.
+Blood taste/frenzy: becomes more savage as blood is shed, whether that is their own or others. If it is their own or an enemy, more aggressive; if it is an ally, more protective.
+An increasingly carnivorous and voracious appetite. Plus a craving for raw meat, and a drive to go hunt it personally; the fresher, the better.
+Tough hide. As 3 or more Chimera traits become active, the skin becomes increasingly tougher and harder for cuts and new transformations to occur.
+A sudden roar that cuts into words, easy for conversations to turn into a shouting match.

04: MONSTER SHIFT, UNICORN

As with Chimera, getting cut and bled by flower bearing thorns will impart unicorn traits on Drifters. This typically comes from thorn plants with white flowers. Unicorns have a knack for stabilizing the more violent changes… And perhaps even stopping transformations from bleeding. The following is also available:
+Horn Resonance, a ringing in the horn or forehead the closer one gets to the tower. Can result in either disorientation, or a boost in healing.
+Shift Healing: At the cost of taking on another unicorn/current monster trait, may heal another Drifter of one active trait. This can only be used once per character.
+An increasingly vegetarian diet, including the flowers off various thorn bushes.
+Increased pain or disorientation in the forehead as horn grows in. May also experience pain in feet (hooves) or back (wings or tail) though healing magic can alleviate pain.
+A compulsion to heal the injured or protect those who can. Similarly, a compulsion to protect the virtuous and aid them.
+Fight or Flight response: more likely to bolt at the sign of trouble with increased speed. If fleeing is not possible (or others are in danger) ready to fight to the death in desperate frenzy.
+Urge to run and be outdoors, gains an almost euphoric sensation when running at full speed.

05: TWISTED LAND

Finally the Convoy draws close to the tower and the moon glows balefully overhead, signaling an imminent Moon Warp. Shards of the tower fall away, exposing something encased in the surface. A chimera monster is pierced and pinned to the tower by swords. Elemental blood streams down, glowing in reaction to the Drifters, and causing the blades to glow in turn.

If Drifters make contact with the swords, they explode in a hail of shards, causing more wounds and damaging the tower. The shed blood twists the landscape. Deserts, forests, and swamps all shift together. With them come the hazards of those environments; quicksand, falling trees or strangling vines, terrible draining heat, all blending and switching without pattern. Such twisting weakens the tower. Further fragments break off and turn into monsters, aggressive and ready to fight. The Convoy braces against the twisting, but warning screens say that the shields are low on power. The shields occasionally waver, letting in the Moon Warp and monsters.

With the damage Drifters inflict in their battles, the environment twisting, and the sword shards, the tower crumbles away. It emits a burst of energy that disperses the land twisting, and ends the bloodshed transformations.

06: SALVE

In the aftermath of the warp, the tower has cracked and broken. A column of wavering light takes its place, reaching thin tendrils up towards the moon.

The red ichor leaks out of the tower in rivers, and any Husk it comes in contact with breaks open without transforming into a monster, instead releasing another glowing shard that travels upwards. Drifters can still harness this ichor to undo one change, though the limits still apply. Submerging in the ichor does not undo more than one change… Though it will stain Drifters with red.

The ichor can also heal wounds, and repair those quite thoroughly, acting as a good salve to mend Drifters from past battles.

MICRO ENCOUNTERS:

PLEASE NOTE! These are small bits of set dressing for players to include in threads if they wish, rather than full fledged prompts or events. You may handwave your exploration of these areas, or thread them out.

Twisted Creatures: Local fauna (flying rabbits, jackalopes, gorgons wandering in from the grasslands, etc) gets caught in the thorn bushes and begins bleeding, and turning into a monster. The process is slow and painful, giving Drifters enough time to get away from the scrub brush and the monster if they wish; or enough time to try and dispatch the creature.

Thorn brush: Clumps of thorn brush line the road. A time or two they even grow over the road and need to be hacked through, in order for the Convoy to proceed. The brush is almost like razor wire, with how sharp the thorns are, and how ready they are to slice up skin.

Watering Hole: Rarely, one can find a small oasis in the bleached land. Unfortunately, many of the twisted creatures want a drink from this place as well; it’s a task to grab water and avoid getting on their bad side.

NAVIGATION

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This isn't right... Donnie winces, but he can't really try and pry Leo's fingers off when his other hand is full.

"You're hurting me now!" he hisses, but there's a frightened look on his face, unsure of what's happening to his brother and not liking this shift, more intense than before, when they'd been running.

Leo reacts like he doesn't hear that, his grip not loosening on Donnie even slightly. Though it turns out to be a moot point when one of the beasts appears from the scrub.

When it does, Leo abruptly drops Donnie's arm, launching himself forward with a ferocious, animalistic cry. He's still skilled with his katana, but there's a ferocity to his movements that isn't usually there, all showboating and careful tactical strikes gone in favor of pure, decisive strength. He isn't even bothering with his portals. It's like he doesn't even remember them. Like he doesn't remember much of anything other than killing anything that might harm his brother.

That Leo isn't even responding to that doesn't dispel the fear trickling down his spine. It doesn't get any better even as Donnie finds himself suddenly released, staring after his brother as he throws himself at the creatures like some kind of wild beast himself.

With the skies open above him, he can feel that tug to be somewhere higher once again, and he flaps his wings, however not nearly enough to gain lift. He's not leaving Leo. But if he can't get through to him when he's on the offense, Donnie can only hope to make sure nothing hurts him in the process.

As he sees more beasts moving in, he starts to run, wings flapping again in earnest. How do wings work?! They're totally different from operating a battle shell. He doesn't get off more than a few feet from the ground but it's something he can work with, and he jumps, wings flaring and beating at the air to give him height enough before they tuck in as he drops down to drive the end of his bō down upon a creature's head before it can lunge at Leo, driving it into the ground. He tucks his wings in tightly against his shell as he continues to move, sweeping his staff around to knock another creature back.

Leo's so focused on the attacking creatures, he doesn't notice at first that Donnie has joined the fray. His attention is all on what he's doing, beating back anything that tries to get close. He's a blur of motion, frenzied and desperate, taking no care for himself in the face of trying to protect that who is most important to him.

But then he turns and sees Donnie, whacking back another creature with his bo, and his heart leaps into his throat. Another beast leaps from the shadows, making to attack his brother, and Leo yelps and throws himself at Donnie.

His aim is to cover Donnie with his own body. It's fine if he gets hurt, he just can't let it hurt Donnie, please, he can't let his brothers get hurt again...!

"Wh-?!"

Donnie glances back just as Leo crashes into him, barely catching a glimpse of the beast as it leaps for them. It's all too fast for him to attempt to conjure up a shield, especially when he's hitting the ground not long after, sandwiched beneath his brother.

The beast collides with Leo's shell, and while it isn't able to damage that directly, it swipes at Leo's legs with its claws. Leo gasps in pain in Donnie's ear, but doesn't move, protecting his brother with his own body.

He opens his eyes to catch a glimpse of dreadful looking claws, and for a painfully long moment all he can do is lie there frozen, watching as they fall upon his brother. His vision blurs as he hears Leo's breath by his ear, his brain screaming 'WHY!!' as Leo doesn't even try to move.

No! He doesn't want this! Donnie had already seen his brother, battered and bruised for them. He remembers that white-hot spike like a supernova, blinding and filling his entire being as he saw the Kraang looming behind Leo, ready to grasp him back in those greedy clutches. He feels it now and grasps it, teeth clamping together as he pulls his arms around Leo.

Above them, purple lines burn in the air, forming a drill that punches right through the beast's head before it can swipe at his brother again. With all his strength, Donnie heaves to pull them into a roll, wincing as the ground grinds against his back and his wings, the latter flaring out once he has the space.

More creatures had started to gather, sensing easy prey, perhaps, but Donnie isn't about to let them near Leo. Rage still grips him, his ninpō forming easily into the weapons he calls for as he swings a rocket mallet to send several of the beasts flying. He slams it down with a crunch upon another, twisting to swing at another when pain tears at one of his wings, jerking him back. He flaps the other frantically, pulling away with bloody feathers, still fueled by anger that he ignores the hurt.

"Get...BACK!" he near screeches, his voice impacting the offending monster like a physical blow.

Leo has his eyes squeezed shut, so he almost misses when they suddenly start moving again, somehow, Donnie dragging him along.

He opens his eyes in time to see the spray of blood and feathers, the flash of purple light. Donnie is hurt, and something desperate and scared screams at the realization, but when he tries to put too much weight on his hurt leg it nearly buckles under him and he has to lean against Donnie.

The monsters are forced back, but the fear in Leo's mind is still sharp. His horn starts to glow again, the light enveloping Donnie and healing the wound on his wing.

The mane hangs in Leo's face as he pants. He wants to run, but he can't move well now, and he can't leave Donnie anyway. He grips onto his brother, his mind a useless, whirling blur.

He stiffens at the weight against him, looking down at Leo in alarm, the glow of his eyes (what) fading slightly before he puts an arm around him for support. That glow makes him worry, unsure of whether using whatever powers will wear out his brother or cause something else to change him, but then he feels the pain subsiding in his wing.

Donnie holds him tighter. They need to get back to the Convoy. He is not letting his brother suffer anymore for his sake. The beasts are on the approach again, and Donnie bares his teeth in a snarl as his eyes glow once again, underlining a warning.

His staff catches the first as it makes a lunge, ripped away from his hand as he can't maintain a good grip on it when the creature bites onto it. He pivots to kick it in the side of the face when it tires again, hissing as another rakes its claws into his shell, and he responds in turn, swiping back with his own.

Fly! Flee! Instinct drives him, prodding him to take to the skies, so he beats his wings furiously, gathering his legs as he wraps his other arm around his brother before making a leap into the air.

No, no, no, again-

No sooner has that beast tore at Donnie’s shell than Leo’s horn is glowing again, stitching it back together. Leo’s horn seems to form a halo of light around Donnie, rejuvenating him from anything that harms him.

But it is making him tired. He slumps more against Donnie, and then…

Donnie leaps, and Leo holds on, squeezing his eyes shut. He hopes this works…

No...

He can't keep getting hurt, it's just going to keep draining Leo. Donnie hugs him tighter, nuzzling the side of his head. The more his wings flap, the more the winds seem to pick up, swirling around them, building fiercely enough that it drives back the other beasts that would have otherwise tried to close in on them.

His wings catch the winds and he stills them, letting the drafts carry them upwards. Up to safety, up to freedom...

It's the first time he's been so high in the air on his own since the Kraang invasion. The sensation hits him, like a blast of adrenaline, a sense of belonging. This...this is where it's safe. This is where he's always been meant to be.

Meanwhile, Leo can only cling on, feeling the stomach dropping weightlessness of being airborne. For a moment the fear is still the loudest thing, and he keeps his eyes shut for a few moments, until it's clear they aren't falling.

Slowly, he blinks them open, turning his head to look down. The twisting landscape spreads out below them, the tower in the distance. But they're up in the air, where nothing can reach them.

His eyes widen, and he turns to look up at Donnie, in open awe. His wings can really fly like this?

Donnie wants to stay up here, away from the things that can harm them, where the sky stretches forever beyond and he feels unbound by roads and barriers...

He glances down at Leo when he feels him stirring, looking exhilarated, his eyes bright, and something almost feral behind them. But he seems to remember himself as he looks at his brother, pale and worn out- injured. Back...they have to go back.

~~He doesn't want to go back...~~

His gaze shifts towards the landscape below them, and even though they're miles above, he can see things so crisply when he allows his eyes to focus. He spots the Convoy and begins to angle them towards it.

Donnie's expression takes Leo aback.

Leo has a hard time remembering the last time he saw Donnie this euphorically excited - probably back before the Shredder destroyed their home and Leo started his constant fights with Raph. It's like he just got some new, exciting mechanical component to play with, or a new sequel to that dumb purple game thing just came out, or...

No, this is something more feral. More instinctual.

For a second, Leo is a little afraid Donnie won't take them down.

But then they start to angle for the convoy. Leo feels antsy as they approach it, the deep need to be on the ground and running still present. But at least they're safe up here.

Leo's not the only one feeling antsy. The lower they go, the less comfortable Donnie feels. It's hard to resist the urge to just pump his wings and take them higher again, and it shows on his face as they descend.

He spirals down towards the roof of the main vehicle, catching a glimpse of the flickering shields. It's not something he thinks too much about aside from that it's probably a bad sign they're doing that- and they as they pass through the thought vanishes along with a breath as he's hit by an unexpected pain, perhaps not as sharp as the claws that had dug into them earlier, but it aches from the inside, something deeper.

Sucking in a breath, he manages to keep their descent slow until his feet touch the main truck's roof, still clinging tightly to Leo as he sinks with both of them.

Leo can’t help but let out a garbled noise of pain as they touch the roof, the wound on his leg flaring with an angry reminder that he’s injured. The cuts themselves aren’t bleeding much, and his ragged skin seems oddly discolored, but he can still feel it just like when his body is hale and hardy.

The whole thing has left him feeling oddly dizzy, and he slumps over on the roof, only Donnie’s hold on him keeping him from going down completely. There’s still a strange urge to run in his bones, but he can’t move. The unfulfilled yearning cuts a gap through his chest.

He’s still quiet, other than his labored breathing.

Donnie clings tightly, curling around Leo as he tries to push past his own pain. It finally seems to fade now that they're on the other side of the barrier, but it takes him a moment before he dares to lift his head.

"L...eo? Hey..." he says, words feeling so weirdly foreign, but once he starts speaking again it feels like the jumpstart the rest of his mind needed. Now that they're not fleeing for their lives or fighting for it, he looks worriedly at his brother's condition.

He can't heal him like Leo can with whatever he'd been able to do with his horn. Already those wounds look old, old, untreated and not right at all, everything about his brother doesn't look right at all and he doesn't know what he can do..!

Think...! It's so hard, like everything is fuzzy.

"Leo, can you hear me? Please say something..."

Donnie's words swim through the buzz in his ears, and he gives his head a shake. Pull it together, your brother is worried about you!

"...Sorry!"

He finally manages to gasp out a word, jerking his head up to meet Donnie's eyes. They're a bit wild and glassy with pain, but at least he can focus. "Sorry, yeah, I'm here. I'm... yeah."

Breathing a ragged sigh of relief, Donnie reluctantly loosens his arms from around Leo, if just a little to help keep him upright.

"I thought it'd be better to come back here. I'm sorry, I didn't know it'd hurt..." He swallows. "I...I don't have anything to heal you like you did me." All he has are wings and claws- he freezes a moment as he sees blood on them, not Leo's, but he barely remembers striking back at those beasts.

"That oasis is too far back," he murmurs, the red making him think of what the waters had done. "W-wait." He'd collected some, and while he hadn't been sure that it would be as effective, surely it couldn't hurt to try.

Donnie looks around, scanning the other vehicles around in search of the Turtle Tank. "Wait here for me."

The explanation comes to him in a buzz. Leo tries to shake his head, say he doesn't care if Donnie can't heal him, but it makes his vision swim a little so he stills. Honestly, it doesn't really matter; whatever Donnie's up to, Leo trusts him.

...Up until the moment the words wait here fully register.

Leo panics, grabbing his brother's arm. No, no, where is he going!? He can't go off on his own, it's not safe!

(He can't leave me here alone!)

It's that thought that gets Leo to drop Donnie's arm again, abruptly. No, he can't be like that. He can't show fear. He has to be strong.

"...Sure," he says, finally, and it sounds like it takes the wind out of him.

Donnie's feathers bristle as Leo starts to grab him, his own panic spiking again. "You're okay, you're okay," he says, gripping Leo's shoulder as he looks at him.

He doesn't like that look, and he really doesn't want to leave either, but he won't let his brother suffer over injuries taken for him. When Leo finally acquiesces, it's like a kick in the stomach.

"I'll come right back. I promise," he says, forcing a smile as he gives Leo's shoulder a squeeze.

He rises, feeling even more reluctant to go, but he turns and jumps from the roof of the truck before he can change his mind. Just a quick run, get to the Tank, get those vials, get back to Leo...

Donnie really left him alone.

Leo curls up on the roof, trying not to panic. Donnie said he would be back, and Leo just has to do what he’s told for once in his life and wait.

It’s not easy. He doesn’t know when Donnie will be back. He doesn’t know if the barrier will hold. He doesn’t know if Donnie - or any of his new friends - need him.

He wants to be running. He wants to protect.

On his back, more pieces of his shell crack and splinter and fall away.

It feels so wrong leaving Leo, especially when he's wounded, when he needs to be protected. It's so hard not to look back, but Donnie knows if he does, he won't be able to do what he needs to do. He doesn't really need to look back when his brother's panicked face is so fresh in his mind.

Fighting instinct to fly higher is another thing, but at least knowing that it would risk going past the shields again makes it easier to resist. Donnie glides alongside the rest of the Convoy train, cutting between vehicles until he reaches the Turtle Tank.

"I hope these still work..." he murmurs to himself as he gathers a few of the vials of red water he'd collected. Maybe he should have just brought Leo back here. Maybe they could just drive back to that oasis, but he's not even sure how far they'd gone since, and the threats that had come up in between had been difficult enough to handle when they weren't injured.

Shaking his head, Donnie gets back out of the vehicle, taking off again. It's like he's always had wings, always been able to fly without something manufactured. A gust of air pushes him farther, things he wonders about but somehow manages not to think too hard on, not when his brother's hurting, not when he needs him.

He sees Leo, not liking how miserable he looks, nor how small he's made himself. Leo's always been a presence that could fill rooms, stadiums. This isn't like his brother at all.

When he finally alights back on the roof of the truck, Donnie drops down beside him, eyes widening at the broken shell pieces there. Oh no, nonono please don't do this... He's not sure who or what he's pleading to, but he moves to pull Leo close again.

"Leo, Leo I'm here, you're okay, please say you're okay...!"

Leo's mind is buzzing darkly until he feels hands on him. It's only by some miracle that his brother's claws don't send him into a panic, and he manages to realize who is touching him before he lashes out.

He blinks, looking up, and tries to get his wits about him. He's not alone anymore, Donnie came back, it's okay, he's...

"Yeah." He swallows hard, and tries to shake some life (hah!) back into himself. "Yeah, I'm okay."

He's not, not really, he hurts and he's scared and he still wants to run and he doesn't know why Donnie left him. But Donnie wants him to be okay, so he'll say he is.

"Just tired." Well, it's not exactly a lie.

Sagging in relief, Donnie pulls him into a hug, as though he could hold his brother together himself so he won't fall apart any further. He's determined to never lose him again, not to some alien's clutches, not to this twisted world...!

Leo hardly looks okay, but Donnie doesn't call him out on it, not when they're both exhausted, not when his brother is hurting. He pulls out one of the bottles, but it's a bit of a juggle to open it while trying to support Leo. The cap goes bouncing off the edge of the truck, making him hiss exasperatedly, but it's fine, he's got the thing open, so he offers the red water to Leo.

"...from the oasis. I'm not sure if it loses its potency once it's taken from the source, but I hope it can do something."

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